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- NFL analyst Chris Simms claimed the San Francisco 49ers are “scared” to start Trey Lance.
- This, he believes, is why the Niners still haven’t traded incumbent starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
- Read more news about the NFL here.
Despite one report after another claiming ever since last season ended that the San Francisco 49ers are looking to trade quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, so far nothing has happened.
When the Niners took Trey Lance with the third overall pick in the 2021 Draft, many pundits just assumed that the writing was on the wall. He was on his way in, Garoppolo was on his way out.
Yet here we are, the NFL Draft is complete, the 49ers begin their rookie minicamp on May 13, OTAs start on May 23, mandatory minicamp will be held on June 13, and we still have no idea whether or not Trey Lance will be the starting QB.
Why?
According to NFL analyst and former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, it’s because the 49ers are “scared” to officially name Trey Lance the starter.
“He’s a guy that hasn’t played and never threw a lot. Didn’t… had a lot of games in college where it was like, well, he threw the ball 12 times this game, 15 times this game, you know, went a quarter without throwing the ball, never had a two-minute drill in college,” Simms said on Pro Football Talk Live this week.
He’s not wrong. In fact, since 2019, Trey Lance has thrown a grand total of 101 passes in live games. Over the past four years, going back to his freshman year in 2018, Lance has thrown a grand total of 389 passes in games.
“Are they scared a little bit or not know what they’re gonna get?” said Simms. “Of course they are.
“Anybody you talk to who saw training camp last year, either that was part of the 49ers staff or when they went and worked with the Los Angeles Chargers and you hear people who witnessed those practices, there had to be concerns coming out of San Francisco early on in the year last year,” Simms continued. “I know there was. There were too many people who were like, ‘Man, the ball is everywhere; man, he’s not ready yet.’ That’s got to scare them to a degree.”
How Trey Lance will perform in the NFL is still a complete unknown
In fairness, the 49ers probably should be a little scared. Despite being the third overall pick, Lance, coming out of high school he only received offers to play quarterback from schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision or the Football Championship Subdivision.
Lance ended up committing to North Dakota State (the same school Carson Wentz played for in college). There he started a total of 17 games in three years, throwing 318 passes with an astonishing 30 touchdowns to just one interception, and rushed for 18 more TDs. During his one full season, Lance passed for 28 touchdowns, zero interceptions, and rushed for 1,100 yards with 14 touchdowns on the ground.
Trey Lance, without a doubt, has the potential to be a very exciting player. The question is, can he do better than Jimmy Garoppolo, who has gone 31-14 as a starter with a stellar 98.3 QB rating for the Niners?
Chris Simms said anyone who watched training camp and the joint practices last year saw that Trey Lance’s accuracy was concerning. I watched every practice and I saw that he completed almost 70 percent of his throws, unlike Jimmy G. https://t.co/xbSv5pimrB
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) May 10, 2022
Chris Simms was the first national Lance hater. Can it be September tomorrow? I don’t think I can withstand 4 more months of stupidity that everyone believes.
“Where there’s smoke there’s fire” USED to be legit. Now it’s just this for clicks… pic.twitter.com/Abo3iKsJXh
— Trey 411 (@FaithfulTrey) May 10, 2022
Chris Simms & many others, are just trying to make their Mac at #3 picks look good for as long as they can
Lance is about to clown them all!
— Ted H🎙TED TALKS BALL (@TedH6) May 10, 2022
Not just Simms says that. The analyst on ESPN, NFL Network and FS1 saying Shanahan made a mistake drafting Trey Lance and he knows it and that’s why they keep Jimmy G
— Val (@Mayo_Val22) May 10, 2022
Time will certainly tell.